As the fourth anniversary of the Salisbury poisoning approaches, a Novichok survivor has opened up about the guilt he suffers over his partner’s death.
In a rare interview with OK! magazine, Charlie Rowley has poured his heart out as he recalled the moment he lost his "soulmate" Dawn Sturgess after just having 18 short months together.
The 44-year-old believed at the time that all the toxic samples of the Russian nerve agent had been cleared out of Salisbury, but he was proven wrong when he gave Dawn a perfume he'd found in a bin.
Charlie said: "Dawn and I had been together for 18 months when she died. We’d met when she was staying in a supported housing scheme, for people who were homeless. She was a mum-of-three, rebuilding her life.
"I was in a similar situation. We supported each other. We loved the same music and living close to Stonehenge, where we’d recently celebrated the solstice.
"A natural hippie, she was kind and spiritual. We just clicked. She was Dawny, my soul mate. I was lucky enough to be re-homed a few months after meeting her.
"I was so excited – my own proper flat in Amesbury, seven miles north of Salisbury. Dawn was pleased for me, she was a generous, lovely person. My life was finally falling into place.
"With little cash, I furnished the flat with items that would have been thrown away. I scoured charity shops and bins, getting electrical equipment, kitchenware and stuff.
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"I found all sorts – gold necklaces, earrings, treasures for Dawn. She’d look forward to seeing what I’d pull from my sack next. Dawn said she wanted a sapphire engagement ring – but she’d happily settle for a Haribo ring. That said it all.
"Going through one bin, I found a perfume box. “Wahey, winner!” I thought. It was sealed in plastic, expensive-looking, so I pocketed it.
"Unwittingly, I’d done something the police hadn’t managed in three months since the Skripal attack – I’d found the Novichok bottle."
On Saturday, June 30 he gave the perfume to Dawn who immediately put it on her wrists and rubbed them together.
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Charlie had gone to wash his hands but when he came back, she had become unresponsive and as his friend Sam called an ambulance, Charlie began frothing at the mouth and became paranoid and aggressive.
He added: "My friend Sam came while the ambulance was outside my house and saw Dawn being stretchered out while I was in bits, an emotional, crying wreck.
"Then I started acting weirdly paranoid and began attacking Sam. I had him by the neck, trying to strangle him. I thought he was trying to kill me, and that he’d done the same to Dawn.
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"Luckily, Sam stuck by me. “I’m your friend,” he said. “I’m not going to leave you even though you’re attacking me. I’m staying with you.” Apparently, I was frothing at the mouth and sweating, my eyes were glazed, red and milky coloured.
"I started rocking backwards and forwards and muttering some weird language, like something out of a zombie film. Sam rang 999 – I would be dead if he hadn’t. I was taken to the same hospital as Dawn.
"While I was unconscious, Wiltshire Police declared a major incident, stating we’d had potential exposure to an unknown substance."
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Tragically, Dawn died that same day but Charlie was treated in hospital for three weeks.
He has since felt guilty about the incident despite being told by the Russian ambassador himself that it wasn't his fault.
Dawn's family also understood that it was an accident and have continued to have a great relationship with him.
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